Vienna - Wir bleiben in Vienna

I planned out an itinerary for us last night, so this morning, we hit the ground running. Breakfast was surprisingly nice, given the ratty condition of the room we are staying in, so that was a unexpected plus. It was even colder this morning, and it was raining with a forecast to rain ALL day, so we abandoned our plan to rent bicycles, in favor of all day U-bahn/Strassebahn passes. Agata and John gave us their umbrella when they left Prague so we made good use of that - thx guys!

Our first stop was the Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (MUMOK) which is the largest museum for modern and contemporary art in Central Europe, and coincidentally located directly across the street from the hotel, in the Museums Quartier.

Museum's Quartier - MUMOK Museum

MUMOK Museum Piece

Always prepared, our student ID's got us a discount of 5 Euros total. We saw exhibits from Mladen Miljanovic (really cool car themed exhibit), Malerei's 'Prozess und Expansion' (just all around interesting installations and very wierd things), and Internationally renowned Austrian artist, Brigitte Kowanz's 'Now I See' (exhibit about communication through light). All the exhibits were super cool and well worth the time and ticket price.

Schloss Belvedere - Home of 'Der Kuss'

We took the U-bahn and Strassebahn (although it took a few mistakes in reading the maps and lines) to Schloss Belvedere (Belvedere Palace) to see the gardens and the Upper Belvedere Collection. The most notable piece here is Gustav Klimt's 'Der Kuss' (The Kiss) of which we were not allowed to photograph. Price was a little steep at 9 Euro each, with no student discount since we were too old!

From the Belvedere, we took another U-bahn/Strassebahn combo to the Kunst Haus Wein - Museum Hundertwasser, which was designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser and houses a lot of his works - admission is half price on Mondays, so a random plus for us at only 4.5 Euro per person.

Kunst Hause Wein

Outside the Kunst Haus Wien

This exhibit was definitely extraordinary and my favorite of the day. The floors were wavy and his works, including wall art and architecture were colorful and extremely creative, all with an eco-environmental emphasis. One exhibit was a model architectural plan of an eco community where the houses were build into the landscaping. Soooo worth the out-of-the-way locale!!

We headed back (yes, on the bahn) to the hotel area to do some sightseeing of the neighborhood we were in, including a popular shopping street, then took some R&R before heading out to dinner.

We went back into the Inner Stadt for dinner at a veggie-friendly place called Wrenkh, which was a great pick by our LonelyPlanet book. The food totally hit the mark, my mango-paprika-quinoa was great, and Kris' fish dish was equally unique and tasty.

Rhiz Bar - Under the Metro Station

After dinner, we walked around a bit, but Monday nights apparently are not very happening in the Inner Stadt. We hopped the bahn to JosephPlatz to a lesser known bar with a location actually underneath the bahn trusses. Odd but interesting place w/ definitely a locals crowd! Wow what a jam packed day!

Vienna - Wir bleiben in Vienna

Vienna, Austria